Bakumatsu Mud Fight
by H2O-Melon
Summary: Humor. During the Bakumatsu, Battousai and Saitou are in an honorable duel to the death, but somehow the situation ends up becoming less than dignified for the two swordsmen


Disclaimer: I do not own Battousai, mud, Saitou, a katana, a ripped off gi, or the Bakumatsu. So there. =P The use of such unowned items are for the simple purpose of amusing myself and possibly others.  
  
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I have a weird and deranged sense of humor and this is the result. This is a one-shot fighting scene between Saitou and Battousai. There are some slight shounen-ai hints, so be forewarned. It starts out kind of dark and serious, but don't let that fool you! Later on it gets kind of wacky and...interesting (for lack of better word). Hopefully you'll enjoy reading this and will feel the uncontrollable urge to review.  
  
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Bakumatsu Mud Fight  
  
by koe760  
  
Battousai crouched down and surveyed, with narrow amber eyes, the bustling activity of the Kyoto citizens below as they wrapped up their work for the day. It was starting to get dark and the smart people were getting off of the streets and back home where there was some semblance of safety.  
  
He waited patiently on the roof, having no plans whatsoever of doing his business in the light of day. He would wait as still as a statue for as long as it took. To anyone looking in his direction all they would see was a still shadow and think nothing of it as they went on their way.  
  
Breaking his stillness, he looked up at the sky as he felt the first drops of rain splatter onto him. Feeling slightly annoyed as it quickly started to pour, he nonetheless ignored the dripping strands of red hair as they clung to his face and neck, making him feel like a wet cat.  
  
When it was sufficiently dark and he sensed no nearby ki he swiftly got up and effortlessly leaped from rooftop to rooftop, the soaking wet tiles seeming to give him no trouble at all as the dark sky continued to weep rain.  
  
The past month had been quite tedious for him and he was looking forward to this months "meeting" with Saitou. Nothing gave him more pleasure and something to look forward to than a deadly fight with the Wolf of Mibu. The past six months they have been having their "meetings" at the same deserted alleyway and every time the results of the fight were the same: a tie. Battousai was hoping that this time he would be the victorious.  
  
He slowed down to as swift walk as he neared their meeting place. Who knew if the Shinsengumi captain was already nearby and laying in wait in some darkened corner? Straining his senses he searched for the familiar ki of his opponent...there it was, waiting just up ahead and around the corner at the next turn.  
  
~*~  
  
Saitou stood patiently in the dark, waiting for his rival to appear so that they could get on with their business.  
  
He smirked (since he doesn't really smile) at the though of defeating Battousai once and for all. Though he had to admit that he would miss the chances to battle with Battousai in the future. But not as much as the feeling of victory once he was dead and no more help to the Ishin Shishi. The rebels would have no chance of winning without their pet hitokiri.  
  
He was brought out of his reverie when he felt the unmistakable ki of the little redheaded hitokiri heading towards him.  
  
~*~  
  
Battousai effortlessly leaped down from the roof as he eagerly walked towards the shadow he knew to be Saitou.  
  
Stepping to the side, Saitou was bathed in moonlight as he eyed his redheaded opponent who now stood about ten paces in front of him. For the next few moments they simply stood still and eyed one another. Only the sound of the rain could be heard as it relentlessly pounded on the two swordsmen, their clothes now fully soaked.  
  
Then without any warning, the two sprang into action. To a casual observer it would have seemed like they had simply disappeared. With a loud clang of steel that interrupted the silent night, they reappeared with crossed swords. Straining their muscles they each in turn attempted to push the other man away, and take the advantage. Then as one, they sprang apart, only to engage in battle a split second later.  
  
Slashing and dodging, Battousai and Saitou continued their fight, neither one taking the advantage, yet both hard pressed to keep the other from gaining.  
  
Within a few minutes of their rapid battle they once again found themselves in the same position as they began with; facing each other with their swords crossed in front of them. This time, as they pushed at the other, it caused the both of them to skid back through the mud.  
  
~*~  
  
Snarling, Battousai crouched as he slid backwards away from Saitou. Lunging forward, he sprang towards the Shinsengumi captain, intent on killing the arrogant Wolf once and for all.  
  
His amber eyes widened though as an unexpected occurrence happened...  
  
~*~  
  
Saitou gaped as Battousai performed a move that he never in his wildest dreams would have expected. As the shorter swordsman had been running towards him, it seemed as if the glaring redhead had...slipped...in the slick mud, causing his opponent to come skidding strait towards him with flailing arms and no chance of a change of course.  
  
He was so surprised to see that happening that he just stood there as the equally startled redhead came crashing into him, thudding against his chest.  
  
~*~  
  
Battousai yelped in a most undignified fashion as he rammed right into Saitou, reflexively wrapping his arms around the larger man's waist in a futile attempt to gain his balance. But as luck had it, his momentum caused Saitou to also lose his footing and the Wolf toppled backwards, the redhead still clinging to Saitou.  
  
The two thudded onto the muddy ground, producing a squishing plop-like noise that would make any immature young boy giggle upon hearing. Gasping for breath, he tried to get control of his bearings.  
  
Blinking, he stared in bewilderment into the slightly dazed golden eyes of the man under him, as his red hair splayed across the larger man's chest and face. Their faces where so close that their noses were nearly touching.  
  
~*~  
  
Saitou was so stunned about his current situation that he simply stared blankly at the amber-eyed man above him whose cheeks were about to match the color of the flaming hair that was currently resting against his cheek, creating an unexplainable sensation to go through his body. The rain that was splattering their prone bodies was all but forgotten.  
  
For the first time, he noticed that he had his arms around the petite frame of the young man above him.  
  
Suddenly, reality came crashing back to his mind and with a snarl he pushed the redheaded hitokiri off of him and attempted to stand up so that he could defeat Battousai once and for all.  
  
~*~  
  
Battousai's eyes narrowed in anger as he was shoved back. As he attempted to stand, Saitou, who was right next to him and was also about to get up, slipped as his hand came in contact with the mud, falling back down and tripping the redhead with his flying arm in the process.  
  
Growling, he tried to stand up once again, but found that he was tangled up with the Wolf of Mibu, who was at the moment cursing as he tried to extract himself from the confines of the sticky mud and to untangle himself from the redhead.  
  
More snarls, growls and curses could be heard as the two attempted to stand, only to fall back down over and over again as someone's limb or other body part got in the way.  
  
Finally, after the ceaseless struggling, they managed to break apart from one another. Panting, they both sat crouching across from each other, glaring hatefully at the other. During their entanglement, Battousai's dark blue gi had apparently been ripped and was now barely hanging on to one of his shoulders, exposing half of his pale chest.  
  
The next instant they were both digging through the mud on their hands and knees, frantically looking for their katanas, having dropped them in the earlier excitement.  
  
As they concentrated on finding their swords, they took less notice of the other. The continuous rain had plastered their bangs to their faces, obscuring part of their line of vision as it partially covered their eyes. Seeing what looked vaguely like a hilt, they both went grabbing for it at the same time, only to realize a second later that they had grabbed the other's mud covered hand, which they had mistakenly thought was a hilt.  
  
Looking up at the source of the hand, time seemed to stop. Battousai couldn't help but shiver as he felt the older man's large, sword callused hand clutching his own almost delicate yet equally callused one. At last, time seemed to catch up on them and interrupted their unforeseen thoughts of the other, causing them to blush before they recoiled their hands with a hiss and flinched away from meeting eye contact with the other.  
  
Luckily, it was then that they uprooted their buried swords, which turned out to be right under them the whole time. They went at each other with a lightning quick slash of their swords. Yet instead of the usual and expected clang of metal hitting metal, there was an embarrassing splatting noise as the mud covered swords slapped against one another. As they hit, it sent a spray of mud in all directions, covering each combatant's face and blinding them in the process.  
  
Screeching in surprise, Battousai unconsciously threw his sword aside as he clutched his burning eyes, desperately trying to get the mud out of them so that he could see. Yelping like an injured wolf, Saitou did the same.  
  
Once they had finally gotten all the mud from their eyes they looked around for their swords, and not seeing them they look at each other, then simultaneously flew at the other with animal-like snarls and outstretched hands, intent on strangling the other if all else failed.  
  
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A/N: OK, I said that this was a one-shot, but it ended up longer than I had originally thought and so therefore there will be a second part that I will post up as soon as I finish writing it. *sigh* This didn't come out as humorous as I had hoped but oh well, that's life for you. Feedback is appreciated as it gives me greater incentive to write more. 


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